System and method for installing personal computer software

ABSTRACT

A system and method for installing a customized set of software on a personal computer, tailored to the requirements of the prospective user and avoiding unnecessary software and attendant license fees. Software (all that may be desired) in unusable form is loaded onto the personal computer then selected software (that which a particular user may require and/or desire) is converted (decompressed and/or decrypted) to produce usable versions of the selected software while the other software may be erased, if desired, to free up space in storage. The selection of software is done on the user&#39;s function (department and/or mission) and may be supplemented by a user selection from a menu, based on a selection utility.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS

The present invention is related to the following other patents, all ofwhich are assigned to the assignee of the present invention:

1. A patent application entitled “Data Processing System and Method forProhibiting Unauthorized Access of Data Stored on a System Device”, Ser.No. 09/246,383, filed on Feb. 9, 1999 by Daryl Cromer et al. Thisapplication is sometimes referred to as the Personal Computer Securityreference.

2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,705 entitled “Method and System for MultimediaAccess Control Enablement”, filed Oct. 21, 1992 by Bernard J. Halter etal. and issued Jun. 7, 1994. This patent is sometimes referenced as theDistribution of Encrypted Software reference.

3. A patent application entitled “In-Box Configuration Method for aComputer System”, Ser. No. 08/972,462 filed Nov. 14, 1997 by Keith Houcket al. This application is sometimes referred to as the Software Loadingreference.

The teachings of the foregoing patents and applications are specificallyincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to installing software on personalcomputers and rendering it usable, particularly for a large, diverseorganization or a plurality of users with differing softwarerequirements. More specifically, the present invention relates to amethod and system for initial deployment of personal computers loadedwith selected software ready for use, throughout a diverse organizationor to a diverse set of users, where different users require differentsoftware.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Personal computers in general and IBM personal computers in particularhave attained widespread use for providing computing power to manysegments of today's modern society for handling information in the formof digital data. These personal computers are either a desktop,floor-standing or portable microcomputer that consists of a system unithaving a single system processor and associated volatile and nonvolatilememory; a display; a keyboard and other input device; data storage inthe form of one or more diskette drives and/or a fixed disk drive or anonvolatile memory equivalent; and possibly an optional printer or otheroutput device. These personal computers have the capacity to operate ina stand-alone environment but are frequently connected to a datatransmission network in order to provide the additional capability toshare data and programs with other computers attached to the network,frequently using a network technology such as token ring or ethernetcommunications.

These personal computers perform a wide variety of data processingapplications, the variety largely resulting from software loaded on andemployed by the personal computer, since personal computer hardware isgenerally rather homogenous from one data processing application to thenext. A significant variation in the data processing applications usedby an individual employee will be found throughout a large corporation.

Thus, a large corporation may be broken down into an accountingorganization, an engineering organization and a manufacturingorganization as well as other specialized organizations like graphics,administrative, personnel,

legal, and customer service. The accounting organization will be usingspreadsheet and general ledger software as well as accounts payable andaccounts receivable software, while the engineering organization may befocused on computer-aided design and computer aided manufacturing(CAD/CAM) applications as well as finite element analysis (FEA)programs. A manufacturing organization may be most interested inmaterial requirements planning (MRP) software and enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) software, while the graphical arts department may beusing software for graphical presentations. Word processing programs maybe useful in an administrative or secretarial department and otherfunctions may have their own specific software applications which aredesigned for data processing for their unique operations. While manyusers will have functional requirements which require specialized andunique software, most, if not all of the personal computer users willuse general purpose software (e.g., operating systems, browsers forInternet access and mail functions for communications within theorganization).

In a large company, then, there is a need for each personal computerworkstation to have a variety of software, some of which is generalpurpose and other of which is customized to the needs of the user.Generally, software is licensed on a per user or per workstation basis,and the software costs for a workstation will often be much greater thanthe cost of the hardware.

Thus, a large company will want to match the software on the workstationto the user's requirement and provide neither too little software(because the user will not be able to perform his job responsibilitiesoptimally) nor too much software (because of the cost of the licensesand the fact that inappropriate software will not be used efficiently ornot at all).

There are two different approaches in general use to set up personalcomputers with the appropriate software matched to the prospective user.The first approach is to load a common set of base software (required byall users) on each personal computer, then download the uniquerequirements for each user, using a data transmission network. Intheory, unique software could also be loaded from individual softwaremedia (diskettes or CD ROMs, but with the number of programs in use andthe size of the programs, such a system for loading software is toocumbersome to be used commercially. The second approach is loadeverything which any user (e.g., in any part of the company) will wantto use, and then have the user either ignore the unwanted software ordelete it.

The first approach has the disadvantage that downloading the uniquesoftware using the network requires a significant bandwidth of thenetwork, preventing the network from performing its useful functionswhile it is downloading the software to each personal computerworkstation. Since the software programs are getting progressivelylarger over time (the software has additional function and improvedpresentation graphics as well as improved interfaces, error messages andhelp screens, for example), so these downloads will take up more of alimited resource of the network and require the networks to be designedto handle large peak loads. Further, some of the personal computers arelocated remote and connected by modem rather than by network, making thecommunication bandwidth even more limited. An application of this firstapproach is described in more detail in the Software Loading referencementioned above.

The second approach of loading all the software on each workstation orpersonal computer has the disadvantage that license fees for softwarewould incurred even though the particular copy of the software would notbe used—e.g., the general ledger program for the engineering departmentor the manufacturing department, the finite element analysis program forthe accounting department.

Since the number of personal computers and users in some companies is inthe thousands, and since the number of software applications involvedmay exceed one hundred, the extra loading on the network (from using thefirst approach) or the cost of unnecessary licenses (from using thesecond approach) is substantial.

The systems for loading software onto computers also have application toa retail operation where an entity offers computers to a variety ofpurchasers in the public with a variable initial load of software. Thedesired software (that requested by any given puchaser) could beselected, then installed, or the entire selection of available softwarecould be preloaded onto each computer. In either case, then, the samedisadvantages are present: if only the selected software is loaded, thencommunications resources are consumed to download the selected software.If all the software is preloaded without regard to what the use thespecific purchaser may want or need, then additional license costs willbe incurred for software which is neither needed nor wanted.

Accordingly, it is desirable to avoid incurring license fees forsoftware which is not to be used by the user of a particular personalcomputer workstation while avoiding unnecessary loading of the networkconnecting the personal computers to a host.

Other limitations and disadvantages of the prior art systems forinstalling software selectively on a plurality of computers will beapparent to those skilled in the art in view of the followingdescription of the present invention taken in conjunction with theappended claims and the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the limitations and disadvantages of theprior art systems by providing a system and method for loading aselection of software applications on personal computers which arecustomized to the prospective users without incurring the overhead ofdownloading the applications through the network and while avoiding thelicense fees for unnecessary and unwanted software.

The present invention has the advantage that it becomes easy tocustomize a workstation or personal computer for the prospective userwith the software applications which that user will need and use andavoiding unnecessary software applications which would otherwise take upspace on the storage of the personal computer and which would requireunnecessary royalties.

The present invention has the advantage that only the software which isappropriate for the prospective user will be installed for use on hispersonal computer and only that software installed for use will incursoftware license fees, avoiding software license fees for software thatis not selected for any particular user.

The system and method of the present invention also has the advantagethat a listing of the users and their respective software is maintainedso that upgrades can be managed and computers with particularcombinations of loaded software can be generated if needed. The listingof software installed for use on computers can also be used forgenerating a list of machines on which royalties are to be paid, whichcan serve as both a listing of the royalties due and a “receipt” showingthe computers on which a royalty for the listed software has been paid.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art in view of the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment taken together with theaccompanying drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some of the purposes of the invention having been stated, others willappear as the following description proceeds, when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer suitable for use inthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial or block diagram representation of certaincomponents of the personal computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a mapping diagram of the hardfile or storage of thepersonal computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the process by which software is loaded andrendered usable on the personal computer of the preceding figures.

FIG. 5 illustrates a software selection utility useful in practicing thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

While the present invention will be described more fully hereinafterwith respect to the accompanying drawings in which the best embodimentpresently contemplated by the inventions is described, it should beunderstood at the outset of the description of the present inventionthat those persons skilled in the art to which this invention relatesmay modify the invention described herein while achieving the beneficialresults of the invention. Accordingly, the following description of theinvention should be considered as merely illustrative of the principlesof the invention and not in limitation thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a personal computer 10 with akeyboard 12, a display (or monitor) 14 and a processing unit 16, alsosometimes referred to as a system unit. In its customary configuration,the processing unit 16 contains various internal components including aninternal hardfile (not shown) which serves as nonvolatile storage forprograms and data. An optional printer 17 is shown, connected by aprinter cable to the processing unit 16 to provide output in printedform from the personal computer 10. The personal computer 10 alsoincludes a connection through a line 18 to a data transmission network20, using a conventional communication technique such as token ring,asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or Ethernet data transmissiontechniques. The data transmission network 20 is shown connected to oneor more servers 22 and to other clients 24.

FIG. 2 shows a logical or block diagram of certain internal componentsof the personal computer 10. The personal computer 10 includes, in itstypical configuration, various components which are typically mounted ona planar board inside the processing unit 16 and connected to thevarious I/O slots and other hardware of the personal computer 10. Asystem processor (or CPU) 32 is mounted to the planar board and providesthe main or central data processing function for the personal computer10. While any appropriate microprocessor could be used in the presentinvention, a Pentium or Pentium Pro microprocessor from Intel or similarprocessor from other manufacturers like IBM or American Micro Deviceswould be suitable, although a 80486 or 80386 processor could also beused as the CPU. The CPU 32 is coupled by a high speed CPU local bus 34to a bus interface control (BIC) unit 35 which is attached to aninput/output (I/O) control unit 58, which, in turn, is connected tovarious output devices such as the printer 17 or the hardfile(nonvolatile storage) 100. (The nonvolatile storage or hardfile 100 onsome personal computers may use the small computer standard interface(SCSI) and may depend from SCSI controller 40 instead of the I/O controlunit 58, but, for the purposes of the present invention, the specificconnection of the hardfile 100 to other components of the personalcomputer is not particularly relevant, so long as the hardfile 100 isoperatively connected.) The details of other components of the personalcomputer 10 shown in FIG. 2 are described in detail in variouspublications and issues patents, including, for example, U.S. Pat. No.5,341,422, a patent entitled “Trusted Personal Computer withIdentification” by John W. Blackledge et al. and assigned to theassignee of the present invention, particularly at Columns 7–9. Thespecification of the '422 patent is specifically incorporated herein byreference, particularly for details about the structure and function ofpersonal computers in general and the environment of a representativeembodiment for the present invention. The hardfile or nonvolatile memoryserves as storage device for software programs and data, and isrepresented by reference numeral 100 and is coupled to the input/outputcontrol unit 58. Such hardfiles or storage devices are conventional indesign and available from a variety of manufacturers, varyingfunctionally primarily in storage size.

FIG. 3 depicts a mapping of the organization of the hardfile (ornonvolatile storage) 100 of the personal computer 10 of the presentinvention. The hardfile or nonvolatile storage 100 is shown divided intoa plurality of identified regions. The number of storage regions and thestorage allocation (that is, which programs are stored in which region)are a matter of design choice and not integral to the present invention,but depend on the needs of the designers and users and the diversity offunctions within the organization. The organization of the hardfile intoregions may be specific (as would result from storage of programs intopartitioned areas or separate directories or subdirectories) or may beprimarily logical (without physical indications and in a single,continuous region) according to the desires of the designer.

As shown in FIG. 3, the hardfile or storage 100 includes a first region102 in which machine-specific routines and programs are stored. A secondregion 104 of the hardfile 100 contains one (or more) operatingsystem(s) for the personal computer 10. A third region 106 of thehardfile 100 stores general purpose software programs, applicationswhich are useful to the various users in the organization. Examples ofsuch general purpose programs or applications are word processingapplications, Lotus Notes (mail) program, host connection applicationsand similar programs of general applicability. A fourth region 108 ofthe hardfile 100 is the location for storing software applicationsapplicable only to certain subsets of users in the organization. Forexample, a general ledger application, CAD/CAM application and graphicsapplications are relevant to the accounting, design and/or engineeringand graphical arts departments, respectively. These regions are logicalin nature, how they are mapped onto a physical hardfile is not importantto the present invention and a function of the BIOS or device drivecontrolling the device.

Of course, the regions described above (regions 102, 104, 106 and 108)are not restricted to that described above and some of the regions maybe implemented in a plurality of sub regions for particular users; forexample, for functions such as accounting or engineering, the region 108for function-specific software may be implemented as multiple regions,such as a fifth, sixth and seventh region. Additionalapplication-specific region(s) could also be included for thoseindividuals who have cross function responsibilities.

The machine-specific routines and programs in the first region 102include the basic input/output system (BIOS) which is common on personalcomputers and other programs which are essential to the proper operationof the personal computer but which are not really selectable by a user.The programs in this first region 102 also include drivers and programsfor the effective use of peripherals associated with the personalcomputer, such as the modem.

The second region 104 includes programs such as operating systems suchas OS/2* or Microsoft Windows* or PC Dos 2000 operating system.(Throughout this patent, an asterisk “*” is used to indicate a trademarkor a registered trademark of its respective owner, for example MicrosoftCorporation for Microsoft Windows and IBM for OS/2). An operating systemis the foundation application, upon which all additional applicationsare loaded and which does many of the routine functions for theapplication programs. If multiple operating systems are installed on apersonal computer, a boot manager is also installed, preferably in thesecond region 104, for selecting the operating system to be used for asession.

The third region 106 includes general purpose programs which are beingloaded for use on all personal computers. This third region 106 storesprograms for communicating between various users on the network (such asLotus Notes*) and for browsing the Internet (such as Netscape* and/orMicrosoft Explorer* software), programs which are for general use andnot specific to a department or function.

The fourth region 108 includes all of the other programs which areapplicable to some user and not to other users. This would include thefinite element analysis (FEA) program for the engineering department,the general ledger program for the accounting department, the graphicspackage for the graphic arts department and so forth. The programs inthis region are stored in an unusable form until activated for use(converted into usable form) so that license fees would not be required.In addition to the previously-identified regions of the hardfile 100,the rest of the hardfile 100 would be free space which is notspecifically identified in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates the steps of a process by which the personal computer10 is set up for initial use, loaded with the desired software suitablefor use. This process may be implemented either during the manufactureor assembly of the personal computer 10 prior to shipment to thecustomer or at the time of deployment of the personal computer byinformation technology (IT) professionals, depending on the particularorganization involved, or by some combination of the two processes. Theprocess by which the programs are loaded on to the personal computer 10and made ready for use is as follows: A master load of all computerprograms used by the potential users is prepared at block 150 in asuitable form, either as a separate media such as a CD ROM or as animage on a separate server such as is described in the Software LoadingPatent. The master image is then converted into an unusable form bytechniques such as compression (using known techniques such as PKZIPcompression and/or encryption using known data encryption techniqueswith one or more encryption keys) at block 152. Once the master imagehas been compressed and/or encrypted, it is in an unusable form until itis decompressed using a decompression technique (such as PKUNZIP) and/ordecrypted using an appropriate key to reverse the compression and/orencryption. The converted and/or encrypted master image is then copiedonto each personal computer (one at a time, without using the datatransmission network) at block 154.

This could be accomplished using the system described in connection withthe Software Loading Patent where a computer such as a “master” personalcomputer with a network attachment is operatively connected to thepersonal computer to be loaded (the “target” personal computer) and theentire suite of software is loaded from the master to the target on anon-production or isolated network, or off-hours on a productionnetwork. While many pieces of individual software programs are nowresident on the personal computer, none of them are usable by thepersonal computer until each piece of software to be used is decryptedand/or decompressed, with the compression serving to minimize the spacethat the software takes up on the storage of the personal computer andthe encryption serving to prevent unauthorized use or copying of thesoftware. This preloading of all potential applications in compressedform saves loading time and space and avoids using bandwidth of the datatransmission network and the time required over a modem is saved.Encryption of the applications serves to prevent unauthorized use orcopying of the applications.

Each personal computer is then delivered at block 156 for customization.This delivery could be to the end user of the particular personalcomputer or to an IT professional who is customizing each personalcomputer for the end user. As will be described later in connection withthe utility program, the user is identified at block 158. Thisidentification of the user is accomplished in any appropriate manner.The software to be loaded could be based on the well-known UniversallyUnique ID (UUID) and allows for the identification of the platformsoftware suitable for the user, based on a listing in the utility, froma remote server through the data transmission network or because afunctional area (such as accounting) has been entered. In any event, theuser is identified at block 158 and a proposed load of software islisted for selection at block 160. This selection may be effective toadd software which would not otherwise be selected or to delete softwarewhich would normally be loaded, allowing a user to customize thesoftware to be operating and usable on his personal computer.

Once the software for a particular personal computer has been selectedat the block 160, then the selected software is converted from unusableform into usable form. Many personal computers have a utility fordecompressing software and the Personal Computer Security Referenceproposes that software to accomplish decryption be installed on personalcomputers to provide for conversion of encrypted files into usablefiles. Of course, the decompression must match the compression techniqueused (so if the software in the master image was compressed with PKZIP,then the complementary PKUNZIP would be used to decompress the software)and the decryption must use the complementary decryption to theencryption, with an appropriate key. The key may be the same for eachprogram or each program may have a separate key and the datatransmission network can be used to obtain the key for the softwarewhich has been selected at the block 162.

Unselected (unwanted) software from the personal computers may beremoved (if this option is desired) by erasing the storage at block 164.While erasing unselected software will free up some storage space on thehardfile, erasing the software then would preclude its later selectionand activation. So, some corporations will prefer to skip the step oferasing the unselected software to allow the software to remain in placein unusable form until it is desired, then converting it into usableform, using an alternate technique such as calling a service number fora decryption key and arranging for payment of the royalties associatedwith the license of the software involved. The concept is that any givensoftware is converted into usable form only when there is a mechanism toprovide for the payment of royalties for the particular software.

At block 166 a list of the selected software (and converted) is preparedand used for paying royalties. This list may be communicated through thedata transmission network to the server or may be prepared in some otherform (such as a printed list) to facilitate the payment of theroyalties, since the form of the communication is not particularlycrucial to the practice of the present invention. However, the list ofwhat software is installed on which personal computer for which user isavailable for future use. Such a listing is used to provide updates tothe software (since only the personal computers with a given piece ofsoftware will require the updates) or to locate a personal computer witha particular configuration of software (e.g., for testing).

If there are additional personal computers to be loaded with software,then the process returns to block 154 and repeated. If the personalcomputer is the last one for a particular corporation, then thenecessary royalties for software usage are calculated based on thenumber of computers upon which each piece of software has been loaded inusable form and the royalties paid at block 168.

FIG. 5 illustrates the utility for selecting the software. The user isidentified at line 180 and the serial number of the personal computer ison line 182. Line 184 is the function of the user, either from a dataentry or from a table stored and available to the computer. Based on theidentity of the user at line 180 and his function at line 184, aproposed listing of software is presented to the user in block 186, withadditional software which would not normally be loaded listed in block188. Based on the user preferences, software listed in block 186 ismarked for deletion and software marked for inclusion in block 188 isused to change the software to be loaded. Once the selections are markedas final, by clicking on an OK icon 190, the list of identified softwareis created at the block 160.

Of course, many modifications and adaptations to the preferredembodiment disclosed above could be made without departing from thespirit of the present invention. Those skilled in the art would alsorecognize the many substitutions which could be employed to advantage inthe system disclosed. Further, some of the features of the presentinvention could be used to advantage without the corresponding use ofother features. For example, software could be selected without usingthe utility described above. Accordingly, the foregoing descriptionshould be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of thepresent invention and not in limitation thereof, since the scope of thepresent invention is defined solely by the following claims.

1. A personal computer system initially loaded with software includingselected and non-selected software in unusable form, with the selectedsoftware later converted and loaded thereon in usable form, the computerincluding a processor, a storage device coupled to the processor forstoring programs therein, with selected programs stored in the storagedevice in usable form after conversion from unusable form, said selectedprograms having been selected based on the user's position andrequirements, said selected programs having been converted by theprocessor from unusable form and stored in usable form, withnon-selected programs not being converted into usable form, saidpersonal computer creating a list of the selected software for payingroyalties on only the selected software.
 2. A personal computer systemof the type described in claim 1 wherein the personal computer processorincludes a software module which erases the non-selected software toremove it from the personal computer.
 3. A personal computer system ofthe type described in claim 1 wherein the personal computer includes asoftware module for converting the selected software from an unusableform into an usable form in response to the selection and the list ofselected software upon which a royalty is paid is the software which isconverted from unusable to usable form.
 4. A personal computer system ofthe type described in claim 1 wherein the personal computer includes asoftware module for converting the selected software from an encryptedform into an unencrypted form and the list of selected software uponwhich a royalty is paid includes the software which is converted fromencrypted to unencrypted form.
 5. A personal computer system of the typedescribed in claim 4 wherein the personal computer includes a softwaremodule for converting the selected software from a compressed form to anuncompressed form.
 6. A personal computer system of the type describedin claim 1 wherein the computer includes a software module for selectionof the selected software, including means to input the user's functionand to select software for addition or deletion based on the softwareassociated with the user's function.
 7. A method of installing avariable selection of software programs on a personal computer, thesteps of the method comprising: loading onto the personal computerstorage a plurality of software programs in unusable form, includingsome software programs needed for that computer and other softwareprograms which are not needed for that computer; selecting the softwareprograms which are needed for that personal computer; converting fromunusable form into usable form the software programs which have beenselected; storing the converted software programs in usable form intothe storage of the personal computer; and paying royalties only on theprograms which have been selected, converted and stored in the storagein usable form.
 8. A method of installing a variable selection ofsoftware programs on a computer including the steps of claim 7 whereinthe method further includes the step of erasing the software programswhich were not selected.
 9. A method of installing selected softwareprograms on a personal computer including the steps of claim 7 whereinthe step of selecting the software for a particular personal computerincludes the step of identifying the user of that personal computer. 10.A method of installing software programs including the steps of claim 7wherein the step of selecting the software programs for a particularpersonal computer includes the step of identifying the job function ofthe user and selecting software which is appropriate for the jobfunction.
 11. A method of installing software programs including thesteps of claim 10 wherein a listing of software for the user and his jobfunction is displayed and an input determines whether software should beadded or deleted as selected software programs to be included orexcluded as usable software on the particular personal computer.
 12. Apersonal computer system loaded with usable software comprising: aprocessor, a storage device and several programs loaded on the storagedevice in such a way as to make the programs unusable; a moduleassociated with the processor for selecting certain of the programsloaded on the personal computer; a module associated with the processorand responsive to the selecting of certain programs to make the selectedprograms active and usable; and a module associated with the processorto make the programs which were not selected permanently unusable.
 13. Apersonal computer system of the type described in claim 12 wherein themodule for making unusable the programs which were not selected includesa module for erasing from the storage device the programs not selected.14. A personal computer system of the type described in claim 12 whereinthe module for selecting the programs which are selected includes amodule for identifying the function of the user, and, in response tothat function, for listing the programs which are appropriate for thatfunction.
 15. A personal computer of the type described in claim 12wherein the module for selecting the programs which are selectedincludes a user input which can add or delete programs from a listing ofprograms which are appropriate for that user, whereby a customized setof programs are created for the user and royalties on the customizedlisting of programs is created.
 16. A method of preparing differentcomputers with different software programs, the steps of the methodcomprising: loading each computer with the superset of programs, each ofthe programs being in unusable form; selecting the subset of programswhich are appropriate for the given computer, based on the user and hisjob function; converting the selected programs into usable form andstoring them on the hardfile of the personal computer; and payingroyalties only on the selected programs which have been converted andstored.
 17. A method of the preparing personal computers including thesteps set forth in claim 16 wherein the method further includes the stepof erasing the programs which have not been selected.
 18. A method ofpreparing personal computers the type described in claim 16 wherein thestep of selecting the subset of programs includes a user input whichserves to add to or delete from the list of programs based on userpreferences.
 19. A method of loading software onto personal computersincluding the steps of claim 16 wherein the steps of the method includegenerating a list of software converted for each personal computer sothat the appropriate royalties can be paid.
 20. A method of loadingsoftware onto personal computers including the steps of claim 19 whereinthe step of generating the list of software further includes the step oftransmitting that list of software to a host computer which assembles alist of software and royalties for a plurality of personal computers sothat a single royalty can be paid for a plurality of personal computers.21. A method of loading software onto personal computers including thesteps of claim 20 wherein the step of generating the list of softwarefurther includes preparing a list of the software for each computeralong with a list of the user and the functional organization for eachpersonal computer.